Thinking Ahead.

Lessons from a Young Leader

I’ve been a life-long student of leadership! Fortunately, I have worked with CEOs from some of the world’s most amazing companies - Mercedes-Benz, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Zappos, and Starbucks just to name a few. One of the things I’ve…

{Infographic} Looking beyond the obvious: spotting customer experience subtleties

Looking Beyond the OBVIOUS: Spotting Customer Experience SUBTLETIES

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to identify the obvious trend away from brick and mortar in favor of online purchasing . Store closings, layoffs, and predictions of doom haunt many traditional retailers such as the Sears Holding Corporation…

{Infographic} Once Upon a Time People Assisted One Another...

Once Upon a Time People Assisted One Another…

It seems like every week I read something like: Or… Technology investments and futuristic predictions of a world where virtually all service is done by undetectable robots are both intriguing and daunting. But how did we get here? And will we reach…

{Infographic} Transforming Optimism on Transformation

Transforming Optimism on Transformation

The word transformation is all the rage in business today. I suspect that’s a byproduct of another trendy word disruption . Given the speed of change ignited by start-up businesses and technology companies, many established and larger companies find…

{Infographic} Choosing Where to Invest in Customer Experience Innovation

Choosing Where to Invest In Customer Experience Innovation: The Art of Tradeoffs

When asked if customers would like to have more exciting products, faster delivery, lower prices, OR friendlier service, the answer is always YES. The challenge of customer experience excellence isn’t whether to improve products, people, process, or…

{Infographic} Out with the old, in with the new and not so new

Out With The Old, In With The New And Not So New: 3 Trends to Consider In Customer Experience Delivery

Are you ready for conversational commerce, digital gifting, and secondhand markets? Great customer experience brands are constantly tracking macro-changes in consumer behavior and trying to determine if an emerging trend is simply a fad (hot for the…

{Infographic} What Are Your UICs?

What are Your UICs? Lessons from American & United Airlines Customer Experience Debacles

I call them UICs (unique industry challenges) and I see them as foundational issues that must be overcome to deliver outstanding customer experiences. Recently, high profile incidents at American Airlines (a confrontation between a flight attendant…

{Infographic} A Contrarian View on the United Airlines Customer Nightmare

A Contrarian View on the United Airlines Customer Nightmare (We all have a role to play)

I was going to write a blog about all the missteps involved in the United Airlines customer experience disaster. Then I started seeing an “abundance of critics” rushing out of the woodworks - some of whom clearly have never tried to help a company…

{Guest Post} Emotional Analysis Of Customer Feedback: The Missing Link

According to Bruce Temkin’s 2016 study , after a positive emotional experience, customers are 15 times more likely to recommend a company. 15 times more likely ! That’s a huge difference. Not surprisingly, emotion analysis is receiving a lot of buzz…

{Infographic} Getting More Referrals

Getting More Referrals = Letting People Your Customers Care About Know About Brands That Care About Them

In last week’s blog , I made a distinction between “likely to recommend” and “actually recommend.” I also suggested that from my vantage point the Net Promoter Score® (which is calculated using a single question about likelihood to recommend) has…

{Infographic} Likely to Recommend vs. Actually Recommending: Loyalty vs. Advocacy

Likely to Recommend vs. Actually Recommending: Loyalty vs. Advocacy

I am a huge proponent of the concept behind the Net Promoter Score® (NPS)®. As you likely know the NPS® is calculated by asking customers: How likely is it that you would recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague? Respondents…